Construction project will run through Rocks State Park

ROCKS, Md. - On a warm April morning, the water from Deer Creek is rushing down. Fishermen try to reel in a great catch, while drivers take in the sites from Route 24.

Rocks State Park is treasured for its nature and troubled at the same time. About a half mile, from Rocks Chrome Hill Road to St. Clair Bridge Road, is feeling the force of water.

"It's going to impact all of us, as this is a main way to get to Bel Air," said Melissa Delcher, who lives near Rocks State Park

Engineers with the State Highway Administration spotted erosion along the banks. They blame heavy rain over the years.

"If we get some sort of a tropical system, or if we get some of these thunderstorms in the afternoon in the summer that dump a lot of rain, every time that happens it brings the road and the water closer together to one another which is not a good thing," said Charlie Gischlar, SHA Spokesperson.

The state has scaled back plans. There was an option to rebuild the road, but now there's a modified version that the Department of the Environment will have to approve.

"What we're going to do now is build a stone wall to protect the road from the water," said Gischlar.

Rocks Road is a school bus route for students in North Harford County. The detour that State Highway recommends, Rt. 23 to Rt. 165, may keep them on the bus much longer.

"It's definitely going to impact the school system because a lot of buses come this way," said Delcher.

If approved, the project will shut down the road but not the park, starting in June and going through most of the year.

A public meeting to learn more about the plans is scheduled on Wednesday, April 16, 2014, at the North Harford High School Auditorium, 211 Pylesville Rd. Pylesville, MD, from 7 – 9 p.m.